Dehlavi

There is not much merit, I feel, when you sit to review a book that you have just read and while it's still fresh in your memory. You lack that beautiful, weather-beaten retrospective character which only comes with time. But I prefer doing this at a time when the only worthwhile thing I am doing is reading books, albeit, accompanied by bouts of forgetfulness, that's so inherent in me. A friend once told me, "City of Djinns is nothing to do with history or the Sultanate stuff. It's all about how the present populations of Delhi came to be." While I would give him the credit for having pointed that necessary component in Dalrymple's novel, which is peoples and their migrations, but it's certainly not the sufficient one. Rather, to me, the very essence of Dalrymple's account is the sense of history and memory which automatically clings with anything that has to do with Delhi. I mean, could I ever write about Delhi without talking about its history, it...

  While my days at present seem to be quite idle and mundane, glimpses of my past days in Delhi come back in vision--an overwhelming sense of movement striking back with retrospective vigour. I would love to look back at those cozy December mornings, when unexpected acquaintances with complete strangers would illumine my day. Little would I then know how significant those acquaintances would prove to be, later in my life. That was a cozy December morning, as I said--chilly, and windy, as Delhi winters generally are in their peak. I had set out for a solo exploration of the Safdarjung's Tomb (actually also planned to visit Shalimar Bagh that day, but that didn't quite materialize). I was walking towards the university gate leading towards the Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station. But my path seemed to be blocked, by personnel of the Delhi Police, who stood there guarding the road. I remembered, a couple of days back teachers of the DUTA were in a protest against the University's ...

  This year's famous Ramlila event at Delhi, read some newspaper article, will be streamed online on YouTube. Well, in this year when everything seems to have moved "online" and a breakaway from the "norm", why not embrace this new experience as well! Although whenever you say " Ramlila ", it brings to my mind something I saw at Delhi a year back, in early November. That was Diwali time, and I was at Connaught Place, a.k.a. "CP". I have never been in Delhi during Dusshera , when I would go back to my hometown for the Durga Puja celebration and leave the majesty of " Raavan Dahan " and Ramlila behind. Last year's "Diwali Mela" at CP somewhat made up for those lost experiences. I knew this is going to be my last year in Delhi. And I couldn't afford to miss the Diwali Mela. So I, along with a friend of mine, went to CP that night, hoping to gather something from the melange of food, music and lights. If you wou...

  The road to Triveni is not one I would have normally taken. But there was some magic in that moment, in that month, and in my company. It was then that I was really walking into uncharted territories, and boating through previously "untasted" waters. But I had two lovely friends, who made it all the more enjoyable. Probably the most memorable afternoon, last September.  Why do I demarcate and designate this one afternoon as separate from every other warm and sunny (read, even scorching hot) afternoons that I have spent walking alone in the Central Secretariat? Every other time, It is a personal delight for me to get down the metro, come out of the wrong gate, gaze for a while or two at the roadside dargah , and then taking a walk to my second home at Delhi, the National Museum (you never knew I am so weird, right?) These are things I have never shared with many people. But this afternoon was different. I had two dear friends; we had taken a cab (sometimes, spoilt brats...

 For me, m onsoons in Delhi have always been the most unexpected and uncalled for thing. It's pretty different from what it feels like back in my hometown. The rain drops are big, they hit the ground with a bang. But you won't get as wet if you manage to shelter yourself under a tree. And then they come in the most unexpected times, with a splash of unadulterated innocence, and some treachery in mind. I was once stuck under the generous pishtaq of the Bua Halima's gateway, along with several other tourists doing "Dilli-Darshan", amidst terrible rainfall. Again, a bout of bad rain invited me the moment I entered into the Red Fort compound, running to reach the Meena Bazar's roofed shelter. I was coming back from Tughlaqabad, after a day of tiring fieldwork under the harrowing sun, only to be welcomed by the unwelcoming rain, the moment I stepped out of the metro station into the Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station! And I never carried an umbrella in all of these, aft...

  That one thing which always struck me when I started living in Delhi--more than its food, locales, and people--this term, "Delhiite"? Who is a Delhiite? Really, a very enigmatic question and I am still grappling with this question, after three years of my stay in this beautiful city, that is Delhi. I remember the first year of my undergraduate study in Delhi. Everywhere I went, this one term captured my imagination like nothing else. It was a term you were supposed to know. Are you a Delhiite? I never came across this term in the IDiva videos I binged upon. I never came across this term in my most favourite TV serial, where the protagonists stayed in East Delhi and Central Secretariat, and fell in love at the Humayun's Tomb!! But as you step in Delhi, you ought to know who is a Delhiite!! I thought of possible ways to answer this question. It may be someone who resides in Delhi. But for how long do you need to stay in Delhi to  be identified as a Delhiite? Some people w...